Pardew Keeps Hold Of Dummett!

Alan Pardew has blocked a bid by St Mirren to take Paul Dummett back on loan.

The SPL side had wanted the left-footed defender to return immediately to Paisley, where he has spent the last four months.

But Dummett – surprisingly handed his debut at half-time against Brighton – is expected to be on the bench against Chris Hughton’s Canaries this weekend.

Dummett was left out of the Toon reserve squad that lost 3-2 against Bedlington Terriers last night in the Northumberland Senior Cup, while fellow youngster Shane Ferguson was included, suggesting that Dummett has overtaken the Derry lad in the pecking order at United.

St Mirren remain keen resurrect the loan deal before the window closes, and ideally want Dummett back for their Scottish League Cup semi-final with Celtic on January 27, but any deal will be dependent on Newcastle’s injuries and transfer business.

Ferguson, meanwhile, opened the scoring for the second string last night with a free-kick, but Bedlington came storming back to take a 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Mark Convery, Mark Doninger and Richard Pell.

A strong Newcastle team, which included another four players with first-team experience this season – Mehdi Abeid, Nile Ranger, Romain Amalfitano and Adam Campbell – pulled a goal back through substitute JJ Hooper, but Northern League side Bedlington held on to reach the semi-finals.